Proper wheel alignment for vehicles is important for safe and reliable handling. In addition, incorrect wheel alignment leads to increased tire wear.
Wheel alignment is most frequently required after a vehicle suffers a major impact in an accident and the suspension member supporting the wheel is bent in some manner. Even a relatively minor occurrence such as hitting a curb or a pot hole can cause some sort of irregularity in the suspension system that leads to wheel misalignment.
Many of today's vehicles employ a strut suspension assembly, such as a MacPherson strut, to connect the wheels to the main body of a vehicle. Currently, there are a number of ways in which a damaged strut can be repaired. The first technique is to replace the damaged parts and straighten the various attachment brackets on the body and hope that the alignment after the work is completed is within the original manufacturer's specifications. Replacement of parts can be expensive with no guarantee that correct alignment will result. Alternatively, shims or other like spacing members can be used in a trial and error process to regain correct wheel alignment. Probably the most popular technique is to employ some type of bending tool to reverse the irregularity in the strut. Many types of bending tools are available for correcting wheel camber adjustment, however, these tools generally involve removing a wheel and installing the tool on the wheel mounting hub. After each trial adjustment, the wheel is replaced and the alignment measured. It is not uncommon to have to repeat this operation several times before proper adjustment is achieved.
Therefore, there exists a need for an apparatus to aid in alignment of vehicle wheels while the wheels are in place on the vehicle.